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Author: Janet Gershen-Siegel

I'm not much bigger than a breadbox.

RIP NaNoWriMoNaNoWriMo, writing, chapter length, how do I write a book, Plotting 101, NaNoWriMo Advice, RIP NaNoWriMo

RIP NaNoWriMo

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 5, 2024

Dammit. So, have you heard the latest, about how NaNo has essentially shot themselves in the foot, again? This one is harder to forgive than the community management debacle. And so, I am drawing a line in the sand (finally, I suppose). Sorry, but RIP NaNoWriMo.

Why Would I Ever Say RIP NaNoWriMo? And Why Now?

I’ll start from the semi-beginning. NaNoWriMo was fun and cute and kinda wholesome. It’s how Untrustworthy was published in the first place. Then, in the last year or so, their forums moderation truly fell apart. Apparently, pedo-type content was being served to minors. Lovely, not.

And so, NaNo decided, okay, we’ll certify our volunteer moderators. But then I thought, well, it’s not great, but it’s something. And, I’ve seen plenty of places simply fall down when it came to moderation. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Facebook.

And, in retrospect, it feels like the issue with content moderation was almost inevitable. Why? Because they really didn’t have good safeguards in place, and there were minors on the site, with very little supervision.

But now, AI is the issue. So, WTF NaNoWriMo?

Why am I Saying RIP NaNoWriMo Now?

It all started on my birthday. Er, thanks, universe. NaNoWriMo put out this FAQ about AI.

In case it’s yanked later, it starts off like this:

NaNoWriMo does not explicitly support any specific approach to writing, nor does it explicitly condemn any approach, including the use of AI.

Sounds kinda promising, eh?

If they had stopped there, I could have cautiously thrown my support, albeit with some personal reservations about it.  But then, they added this:

We believe that to categorically condemn AI would be to ignore classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology, and that questions around the use of AI tie to questions around privilege.

Wait, what?

Classism

NaNo wrote:

Not all writers have the financial ability to hire humans to help at certain phases of their writing. For some writers, the decision to use AI is a practical, not an ideological, one. The financial ability to engage a human for feedback and review assumes a level of privilege that not all community members possess.

Using AI as a spellchecker or a grammar checker is not the issue, or at least it should not be. And if people aren’t in critique groups or can’t find one or don’t like them, using AI instead is, I suppose, a decent substitute.

So far, so good. Kinda, sorta.

But I’m already uncomfortable.

Ableism

NaNo wrote:

Not all brains have same abilities and not all writers function at the same level of education or proficiency in the language in which they are writing. Some brains and ability levels require outside help or accommodations to achieve certain goals. The notion that all writers “should“ be able to perform certain functions independently or is a position that we disagree with wholeheartedly. There is a wealth of reasons why individuals can’t “see” the issues in their writing without help.

This is why editors exist. Critique partners and groups. Friends. Hell, the reviews on Amazon (assuming they’re not just from someone with an axe to grind) can help to do this.

As real-life writers who I know, who are disabled have said—we (er, they) may do it more slowly, but they can still git ‘er done. And without dragging AI into it.

General Access Issues

NaNo wrote:

All of these considerations exist within a larger system in which writers don’t always have equal access to resources along the chain. For example, underrepresented minorities are less likely to be offered traditional publishing contracts, which places some, by default, into the indie author space, which inequitably creates upfront cost burdens that authors who do not suffer from systemic discrimination may have to incur.

… and what? The fact that some writers have less financial means than others is nothing new. And the fact that a good cover is expensive? Not news, either. Is this to somehow wrap the use of AI for a cover in virtue? Well, I got some virtue-style news for NaNo.

Given that AI is trained on all sorts of stuff with no artist permissions, it is the biggest copyright infringer on the planet. So, what’s better? A lousy cover that at least you own? But you don’t sell anything? Or a sharpish AI cover which infringes and looks creepy?

Don’t they both stink, not just in terms of virtue, but in terms of feeling like you’re doing the right thing?

Or, hey, here’s an idea.

How about paying an actual artist?

But, but Costs!

Yeah, I get it. It’s not cheap. Nope, it’s not. Writing is a pretty expensive hobby/side gig.

So, try Fiverr.

Here’s another idea. Work with someone you know who’s got a decent handle on Photoshop or Adobe Indesign, and get a good photograph. How do you get a good photograph? Take one if you’re talented or pay someone you know who’s talented. Or buy one from a place that sells stock photos.

Another idea? Save your pennies. And yeah, it won’t happen immediately. Maybe your up to the minute, ripped from the headlines thriller is a rush and should be out there ASAP.

But that’s an exception, not the rule.

Here’s a Little Secret

Shh. Tell no one!

But seriously, folks. The world can wait a bit for your novel about a vampire rodeo rider from Alpha Centauri who fights crime in their spare time.

Dang, now I want to write this.

But in the meantime, I hate to say it, but I will.

I’m sorry, but it’s over. It’s not me, it’s you. So RIP NaNoWriMo. We had a good run, you and me. I loved you fiercely. But it’s over.

But What About This November and the Others, Ever Onward?

Here’s another little secret.

You don’t need them, and neither do I. We can write whenever we want to. I loved the urgency of it, and the event feeling of it. But the event feeling has been gone for a while now. And guess what? I (and you, too) can create my own urgency.

I like doing this in November, partly for nostalgic reasons but also because it’s a holiday-like event. And I like that it’s near the end of the year, but not quite.

So, I’ll be doing something similar. But I’ll call it 30Day50k.

You want to join me? It’s free. There are no forums. No police. And no counters. It’s totally the honor system. Ain’t got no prizes.

Just… write.

RIP NaNoWriMo. Long live 30Day50k.

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What Do You Look Like Online?

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 3, 2024

So, What Do You Look Like Online?

This post is a riff on a rather old post, Do You Know What You Look Like Online. Essentially, the question is, if you were searching for someone (someone just like you, perhaps), what sorts of judgments would you make? What seems off?

What’s being suppressed, which aspects should you be promoting, and vice versa? Is the picture clear or fuzzy?

The gist of that article is, take control of your information, keep it as a uniform brand and check it every month or so. The corollary to this is one from Shama Hyder Khabani, which is, essentially, don’t spread yourself too thin. Concentrate in only a few places.

My Own Information—What I Look Like Online

Absolutely agreed. When I google my own last name, 40,900 hits come up. And, fortunately, my own website is on page 1 (Yay, SEO!). My Entrepreneur profile (writing I did for work) comes up on the first page of results. So do my Twitter/X and LinkedIn profiles.

Also on the first page are my Facebook profile, and my Amazon author page. Get to page 2 and there’s my profile on YouTube.

Another Angle

Putting my last name into quotation marks yields 6,480 hits. All of the same usual suspects come up on Page One of the results. And nothing is too weird or scandalous. Even MuckRack, which essentially just scrapes for your name, doesn’t have anything bad.

Hey, Bartleby published me!

How Accurate is the Information?

To my mind, checking and rechecking every single month might just be a bit excessive. Is there a need to keep your profile accurate? Sure. Flattering, or at least not damaging? Yes, particularly if you are looking for work.

But to keep it sterile and perfect, as you scramble to make it perfect every moment of every day? Eh, probably not so much.

My own profile is the product of just doing a lot, and it being published. It’s easy to find flattering info on me. What I look like online is competent more than anything else. There’s nothing radical.

As for less flattering stuff, well, let’s just say that I am glad the internet wasn’t around when I was in high school.

Yikes.

But…

I would like to think (am I naïve? Perhaps I am) that potential clients and employers will see the occasional typo and will, for the most part, let it slide unless the person is in copyediting.

I am not saying that resumes, for example, should not be as get-out perfect as possible. What I am saying, though, is that this kind of obsessive and constant vigilance seems a bit, I don’t know, much.

Will the world end if I accidentally type there instead of their on this blog? And, does it matter oh so much if I don’t catch the accident immediately? Even when you consider that I’m a writer. After all, I should know better, yes?

I mean, with all of this brushing behind ourselves to cover up and/or perfect our tracks, and all of the things we are leaving behind, where’s the time and energy to make fresh, new content and look in front of ourselves?

Clean Up Your Presence

To me, there is little joy in reading a blog post or website that looks like the person who put it together was barely literate. But there is also little joy in reading sterile, obsessively perfect websites and blog posts.

A little imperfection, I feel, is a bit of letting the ole personality creep in there. Genuineness – isn’t that what the whole Social Media experience is supposed to be about, anyway?

I refuse to believe – I hope and I pray – that a bit of individuality never cost me potential jobs or any company I’ve ever worked for potential clients.

And if it has, then that saddens me, to feel that, perhaps, people are paying a lot of lip service to the genuineness of Social Media but, when the chips are down, it’s just the same ole, same ole.

Genuineness is great. One you can fake that, you’ve got it made? Please, say it ain’t so.

And don’t get me started on AI.

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Character Creation

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 29, 2024

Let’s Look at the Background of Character Creation

Character creation is rather personal. It depends on how organized you are, and how much you like to plan. So every writer’s character creation will vary. This is what I tend to do. However, my methods are not necessarily the best or the most consistent ones.

Your mileage, when it comes to character creation, will undoubtedly vary. And that is perfectly okay.

Origins for Some of My Character Creation

For me, characters arise in a few ways. One is just that I can ‘hear’ their ‘voices’. Or I might see a face clearly. Lots of situations or activities can create a focus. One way is, I might walk around my neighborhood and consider what I see. This is whether it’s something from nature or just someone’s illegally parked car. Music in particular can be helpful for this, although it is not absolutely necessary.

For a fanfiction bad girl character I named Pamela Hudson, her personality came barreling in when I heard the Amy Winehouse song, You Know I’m No Good.

And sometimes, characters just appear, fully formed. I tend to consider names in the context of how they sound and what they mean. Hence a character like Marnie Shapiro Chase came out of nowhere because I liked how her name sounded. Then I worked on putting her together. The same was true of Colonel Craig Firenze. He started off sounding good and I built from that.

For Josie James, I didn’t hear her voice until I changed her name from Jodie James.

Character Creation: Ethnicity

Still other characters might arise out of names and ethnicity. Or even national origin. Jazminder Parikh and Akanksha Kondapalli are both Indian women, but Jazzie is a doctor, whereas Akanksha is an attorney. I also tend to like someone to be from the southern US. Hence Jeannie Louise Scutter and Patricia LaRue arose.

Characters from the UK might be Dave Shepherd, super-spy, or Dr. Devon Grace. Plus there are also scullery maids Frances Miller and Ceilidh O’Malley. And psychiatrist Dr. Carmen D’Angelo. So it runs the gamut of rich and poor.

In addition, I try to write some characters of races different from my own. These run the gamut from Dr. Elise Jeffries and Dr. Mei-Lin Quan to Solar System President Fankald Williams and her sister, Tamara Woods.

What’s in a Name?

While draping a character around the meaning of their name is kind of silly, it can sometimes help to inspire. I liked the name Ceilidh O’Malley, and it was a bonus that her name means a type of jig. Hence someone who grew up in grinding poverty had a rather frivolous name. So I gave her the middle name of Aisling, which is Irish Gaelic for dream.

Dave Shepherd didn’t originate as a protector in the Obolonk universe, but as I wrote him, he became one.

Other characters just almost tell me their names. This was certainly the case with Craig Firenze and Kitty Kowalski in Mettle. In Mettle, the two bratty tweens were always going to be Kitty and Mink. Tathrelle was another name that sprang up, for Untrustworthy.

Frances always existed in The Real Hub of the Universe, but her surname started off as Marshall, not Miller. Her name was changed as a character named Marsh was mentioned too often with her.

Other characters are named for people I know, in whole or in part. The Enigman Cave is particularly chock full of such characters. It’s everyone from the Chief Veterinarian to a space defender to the Chief Engineer. The Real Hub of the Universe has some, including the Chief of Police. Plus the Ashford baby is named for a man I know.

Character Creation: Time to Show Some Emotion

Characters also exist to make the main character feel something. And this isn’t always something good. Ben Chase exists to piss Marnie off in The Enigman Cave. Johnny Barnes exists in The Real Hub of the Universe to terrify Ceilidh and force her into action. Jeannie exists in Mettle to anger Craig and eventually make him not feel too bad about getting on a plane.

And one of the reasons Dave Shepherd exists in the Obolonk universe is to help Peri get over Charlie.

Oh, and Bobby Brodie exists to be an uncouth lout. Which he does a little too well.

Plus there are always love interest characters, even if they don’t last. For example, that’s Lex Feldman in Enigmans and Dalton Farouk in Time Addicts, the 2019 NaNoWriMo novel.

Shapiro, Shapiro, Shapiro

As a kind of personal ‘tell’ and Easter egg in my works, every longer piece (except for Untrustworthy, as none of those characters are human), somebody is named Shapiro. This is even true in fan fiction, where characters Ethan and Rebecca Shapiro (father and daughter) figure prominently in the overall storyline.

The Obolonks series has Greg Shapiro. He’s a wisecracking cop living in Connecticut. The Enigman Cave has Marnie Shapiro Chase, the captain of the spaceship. Marnie’s kind of frumpy and nerdy but also very smart.

Then in Real Hub of the Universe, the name is subtle. Blima Shapiro Taub is a character never actually seen ‘on screen’. Blima is known more for her jealousy than anything else. In Mettle, Shapiro is Eleanor Braverman’s maiden name. Eleanor suffers from Alzheimer’s.

So you can see that the Easter egg characters are all rather different.

In the November 2019 NaNoWriMo novel, the name shows up as a the married name of Josie James’s older sister, Hayley.

Character Creation: Purposeful Characters

Sometimes characters are necessary to fulfill some purpose or another. Technically, that’s supposed to be the case with all characters (oops!). Either advance the plot or be background exposition. Hence Noah Braverman’s fellow reporter, Francine O’Donnell, serves to give him a bit of a reason to express his thoughts out loud in Mettle.

Ben Chase serves as Marnie’s foil, but he also makes a big discovery which helps drive the Enigman plot. And I needed Livia Thorson in Obolonks to explain some of the robotics, just as I needed Ned O’Malley in Real Hub to explain how Ceilidh was going to get to the states.

Sometimes purposeful characters come in the form of radio or TV show hosts, or nameless people reading news stories aloud or commenting on them. How many times have you stood in line at a coffee shop and heard people discuss the events of the day? Even if it’s the sports section or politics or whatever, it can still help to orient readers as to time and place.

In Untrustworthy, Ixalla started off as a kind of explainer character, but then the role grew when I turned her into a revolutionary.

Takeaways

Why do you need a character? Do you like them? Do they drive the plot? Will you kill them off if you have to? Make characters to fulfill these purposes or to add depth and background. Give your story dimension with people who feel real.

Character creation is a personal process. It can be planned and detail-oriented. Or it can be haphazard. You make the call!

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Writer Giveaways

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 27, 2024

Giveaways

So giveaways can be helpful when you are first starting out. Because people do not know your writing, they might not be inclined to spend too much on your work. Rather than pricing down to nothing, do one better: give your book away as a prize. Amazon, in particular, makes it easy. And on GoodReads, this kind of a promotion costs you even less.

Prizes

A lot of the internet is gamified these days. So, what do I mean by that? Essentially, instead of simply telling you that your LinkedIn profile needs work, that site gives you a completion percentage. And it also pits you against your fellow job seekers. So never mind if they have your qualifications. The competition starts even if you don’t want it to. And this kind of competing tends to spur people to action.

Hence you can provide your work as a prize for really anything. I provide it as one of the prizes for the 24 Hours of G & T Fundraiser, and I’ll even send a signed copy if the winner is in the United States (where the shipping costs less; otherwise, I try to order my work directly through whichever Amazon applies to them and then pay the exchange rate).

So if you have some sort of event, there’s no reason you can’t raffle off your book. Do it for charity, even. Just, get it out there, and into the wild. The more copies out there, the better.

Advance Review Copies

Now, Amazon has been cracking down on this a bit so proceed with some caution. However, no one is stopping you from giving away your book for free. The issue arises when writers provide a copy of their work in exchange for a review (generally referred to as “an honest review“, as the intention is to get the truth out of the reviewer and not bribe them to shower you with unfounded praise).

Hence instead of doing an even exchange, your best bet is to simply provide a copy and ask that someone review your work if they see fit.

Spoiler Alert: for most people, if they have a free copy of your book and they liked it at all, they’ll usually leave some sort of a review. This is even if it’s just in the form of stars.

Impulse Writer Giveaways

Furthermore, you can always give things away on an impulse. Or during the promotions day at various writers’ Facebook groups, I will offer my book for free. All a person has to do is show me their receipt for purchasing another group member’s work. To make my life easier, I limit the time, usually to just one week.

I ask if someone will review both our works if they want to. And then I send the book and leave it. By the way, I’ve gotten three reviews this way. That might not seem like a lot, but I have also made some friends. And that helps in ways that go far beyond promotions and marketing.

Writer Giveaways and Takeaways

Consider opportunities for giveaways, prizes, and gamification of your work. Yes, yes, I know you want to make money from your work. I get that; I really do! But sometimes you need to lay out some of your own funds to make it all work. Don’t be cheap about this. When the time and conditions are right, give away at least a few copies of your work. Because nothing builds goodwill and relationships better, or faster.

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Writing Needs Editing Part 2

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 22, 2024

Writing and Editing Part 2

For editing part 2 let’s get past acting like your own biggest fan, like we did in Editing Part 1. Time to get out the scissors. Or the weedwhacker.

More Editing

Let’s go to editing Part 2!

So last time, we looked at some general issues surrounding editing. Although the process may seem daunting, it still must be done. For this post, I will assume you have done the tasks outlined in the first part.

If not, then this methodology will still work. But I think you’ll find you will need to do the preliminary steps anyway. Hence you might as well get them done now. Then it’s on to Editing Part 2.

Spell Check

Maybe it sounds dumb. Perhaps it’s obvious. But you still need to run a spell checker. Don’t have one? Then try a free spell checker online. But if you have a spellchecker in your application, use it.

Understand that certain typos will be a problem. If you type ‘that’ for ‘this’, it will not show up, as those are both real words. Hence your spellchecker provides only a preliminary solution. Have the program ignore names, in order to eliminate them from contention.

Find and Replace

Your find feature is a godsend; use it! Furthermore, if you use names which might have typical typos, try searching for them with ctrl-F. For example, the main character in my 2015 NaNoWriMo novel had the name of Marnie. Hence I searched for the word ‘Marine’. But I made sure to check on usage before I hit ‘replace’.

This feature also works when you change a character’s name.

Find and Count

Do you overuse some expressions? Repetitive language isn’t bad. But too much of it is dull. Consider usage, and adjust repeated sentences accordingly.

That Attack

My good friend D. R. Perry taught me this one, and I love it.  Have your program count how often you use the word ‘that’. Of course, it’s not a bad word outright. But overusing anything can be dull. By counting this particular word, you get a handle on your use of certain idiomatic phrases. E. g. ‘he thought that’, ‘she said that’, ‘they felt that that was funny’.

In all three of these instances, the word ‘that’ can be cut without losing any sense.

Synonym Sweep

This time, search for the word ‘very’. As with ‘that’, the word is perfectly fine, despite what Stephen King says. However, he is right (as was Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society) insofar as it’s a not so precise use of language. What’s better: ‘very big’ or ‘gigantic’? For a children’s book, probably the former. For any other kind of book, it may be the latter.

If you can clip the adverb and instead enhance the adjective with a better synonym, your writing will be more interesting. Stay away from obscure adjectives (e. g. ‘Brobdingnagian’). Also, your characters can use all the adverbs they like when speaking. But try to cut them in your scene setting, your transitions, and your exposition.

That’s the first half of Editing Part 2. Now onto the second half.

Fat Cutter

You’ve been doing this all along, with ‘that attack’ and ‘synonym sweep’. The idea is to excise unnecessary words. Unlike the former two methods, this one will require some reading. Up until now, everything has been done programmatically. Now you need to do some digging. But first check how long your chapters are.

There is no hard and fast rule for chapter length, but if all of your chapters are 20 – 35 pages and one is 63, then that one might have some fat you can cut. Or maybe you can just split it into two or even three chapters.

Consider descriptive text and exposition. You need it, but how long does it have to be? Familiar places in the current time period probably just need a few words: downtown Detroit, the Great Barrier Reef, etc. Or familiar places in the past need more but can still be pretty spare, such as Victorian-era London, or ancient Rome during Claudius Caesar’s reign.

Familiar places in the future need more but you can build on today: 2023 Berlin maybe has taller buildings, 3116 Istanbul might be enclosed in a geodesic dome. Unfamiliar places will need more lavish attention to detail. But metaphors and similes are your friends. The new planet might be as big as Saturn but without rings, and smell like wet dog.

Scene Shifts and Plot Changes

These are much bigger and will take up a lot more of your time. Before you do either, you might want to consider whether your story can be understood by beta readers without doing either. If so, then keep this in mind (maybe take some notes) but don’t do it. See what beta readers say. Maybe you won’t need to make such drastic changes at all.

Final Read-Through Before Betas

Give it one last read-through. Look for the right words in the wrong places (e. g. a typo which turned out to be a correctly spelled word, so spellchecker missed it). Look for sense and ease of understanding. Make sure your plot makes sense.

Then kiss your manuscript good-bye (for the time being) and send it off to beta readers.

Post-Beta Readings and Editing Part 2

After betas, Editing Part 2 should be followed by a kind of Editing Part 3. Consider your betas’ advice. You don’t need to take it all, but listen with an open mind. Do one last read-through and then send your work to a professional editor, if you can afford one.

Why should you, if you’ve done all this? Because you (or I) may have missed something. In addition, all this preliminary work was free. Your edited work will come back a lot faster and cleaner.

Then, and only then, can you consider querying.
Editing Part 2—yep, there was a part 1, as well.

Want More on Beta Reading and Editing?

If you want more on beta reading and editing, check out the following posts:

Beta Reading:

Editing:

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Writing Needs Editing Part 1

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 20, 2024

A look at editing Part 1. Writing is why we’re here. But editing is what makes it sing.

What’s this All About? Editing in a Nutshell

Check out editing part 1. If you don’t do any editing, don’t expect people to read your work.

Unless you normally write six-word horror stories, you are going to need an editor. Everybody needs this service. However, you should edit your work before handing it over to a professional. In particular, if you are just coming off NaNoWriMo, you need to trim the fat. Because we all pad in order to make word count for NaNoWriMo. Don’t be ashamed of this! And a lot of it might turn out to be the good kind of fat. In particular, if it helps you introduce a new and interesting character, or set a new scene, or transition a story line properly, it can be terrific. But you still need to go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Everybody needs to do this. And there are no exceptions.

Adding Words

Sometimes, you actually add words in order to edit a story. And that is perfectly fine. If a description was rushed, or a scene feels forced, you may need to add words. In particular, if you wrote your story with placeholders such as: fix this later or add transition here, you must address those problems!

Getting Started

Are you wondering why this post was not added in November? It’s because editing requires some ‘leave it alone’ time. Frankly, this is too early. Because I highly recommend leaving your work for a full month before tackling editing. Just, find something else to do during the month of December. Between the holidays and the end of the quarter and the end of the tax year (and up here in New England, you might get some snow to shovel), I’m sure you can think of something.

Okay, Now We’ll Really Get Started With Editing Part 1

So you’ve set your work aside for a month. Your first job is to read your manuscript through from start to finish. Want to take notes? Sure. Or not. This is your show. But read all 50,000 or 100,000 or whatever words.

You’re not a writer, and you’re not reading as the writer. Rather, you are reading like a fan.

In the next article, I’ll show you where to go from here.

Writing Needs Editing part 1 means, yes, there’s a part 2 a-comin’….!

Want More on Beta Reading and Editing?

If you want more on beta reading and editing, check out the following posts:

Beta Reading:

Editing:

Next article

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Color Theory, Part 4

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 15, 2024

Color Theory, Part 4

I made it all the way to part 4? Cool!

Time to look at Color Theory, Part 4 – If you are interested in creating your own covers, or if you are a part of selecting your cover in your published work, you will need to understand color theory.

But what does it mean when you add blue to your cover? Blue is the favorite color for so many people, you would think it would always be a good go-to for a book cover.

Er, not quite. Read on.

Part 4 of The Basics

Color theory is the associations and impressions we get when we are confronted with a certain color or set of colors. Color matters.

Blue and its Family of Colors

Here, in part 4, let’s delve into blue’s families. The subtypes of blue all have their own quirks and associations.

Blue, Glorious Blue!

Blue works as a lot of people’s favorite color. We associate it with both the navy and sadness. It is the color of both the sea and the sky. It is also has associations with the Union during the Civil War.

Many websites use blue as an accent in their designs or even in their logos. Facebook and Twitter, anyone? PayPal and Dell also use blue in their commercial logos.

Blue also figures in the colors of numerous sports teams, from the LA Dodgers to the Carolina Panthers. Often, we associate blue with masculinity, particularly as a counterbalance to pink. But there’s no particular shade of blue. Light or dark, it doesn’t seem to matter.

Blue eyes aren’t too terribly rare, but at least two famous men were known specifically for the allure of their blue eyes—Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman.

A blue moon is a rarity. Winners get blue ribbons. We also associate blue with the Democratic Party, and with business, particularly conservative business attire.

But it is also the color of blue jeans. Well-known blue books include the Uniform System of Legal Citation, Kelley’s used automobile values, and the Handbook of United States Coins.

More Blue, Please!

Also, blue can mean depression, i.e. getting the blues. Talking until you are blue in the face means going past the standard and arguing until you run out of breath. And blue babies are in physical danger. It’s only fairly recently that medicine has been able to treat them.

Blue even figures in the titles of at least 100 films!

So, there are positives and negatives when it comes to blue. And there is a ton of ubiquity. You might want to avoid blue (or at least too much blue, that is) in order to not fade into the background and be lost amidst so many choices.

Purple & Violet

Violet and purple are not exactly the same color, although we often use them as synonyms. Many people will use the two terms interchangeably. But that’s not quite right.

Violet skews bluer; purple skews redder. And purple reminds us of gay pride, grapes, and Barney the dinosaur. Purple is also a color we associate with royalty, as is blue.

Purple prose is overly flowery and ornate; we tend to see it as over the top. Both shades remind us of flowers; purple is more reminiscent of wine and cranberries.

Violet is a woman’s name. The character Violet Bick in It’s a Wonderful Life is the town bad girl. And Violet Beauregard, in  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is overcome by a gigantic blueberry.

Violet Gray was a main character in Peanuts, and she was the original mean girl. But she was relegated to the background, probably due to the popularity of Lucy Van Pelt. I imagine even Schulz got tired of writing a drawing a one-note bully.

So, even the name Violet is fraught.

Sports teams with purple or violet include the LA Kings and the Minnesota Vikings.

If you have regal or LGBT characters in your book, why not consider accents on the cover in either of these colors?

Going Green

Green is the color of early spring and Ireland. It is inextricably associated with both St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas, and is often associated with resurrection in culture, probably because of evergreens.

Green reminds us of aliens (little green men!), sickness, and poison, but also limes and mint. It means go and was also the lowest level of terror threat according to Homeland Security.

In the United States, it is also quite literally the color of money. Who doesn’t want greenbacks?

It can also mean that someone is new or has no experience. While this term is rarely in use today, the term greenhorn was once a common slang term for an immigrant.

And, we often will associate it with forests, gardens, and ecology. If you are setting your book in an agricultural society, then a green accent or two might be a good choice.

Sports teams with green as one of their colors include the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia Eagles.

The fact that green can mean both fresh and spoiled means you will need to choose your shade rather carefully if you decide to go with the green.

Upshot: Part 4

Add green to your book cover and bring out nature or evoke business, or add purple to connect with gay pride. Or add blue for a conservative look, or to evoke the ocean or sky.

Colors are going to matter when it comes to your book cover. They can make or break your sales, so choose wisely.

Color Explorations

Color Theory
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Part 3
also, Part 4

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Color Theory, Part 3

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 13, 2024

Color Theory, Part 3

For color theory, Part 3 – If you want to create your own covers, or if you are a part of selecting your cover in your published work, you will need to understand color theory.

What happens when you select a cover color predominantly from the family of yellows?

The Basics of Color Theory, Part 3

Color theory is the associations and impressions we get when confronted with a certain color or set of colors. Color matters. What do we think of, when we think of yellows?

Yellow and its family of colors

Yellow is a vibrant color but it is rather difficult to see against a white background. If your cover is mainly white, then yellow is a poor choice for author or title lettering unless you outline the yellow in a darker color.

We associate yellow with sunshine but also with lemons, which can evoke either cleanliness or a car that just never seems to work right. Yellow can also evoke cowardice and caution. It can also feel like early springtime, particularly in the northeastern United States. This is because two early flowers, forsythia and daffodils, are primarily yellow in color.

It can also remind us of taxis and urban living. But it can also remind us of Buddhist monks’ saffron robes, or even the spice saffron itself, which is rare and expensive. In science fiction, it signifies an intermediate alert, a cause for concern but not out and out panic. But we also use an amber alert for locating missing children.

And, sorry to the squeamish readers among us, but we all know that it’s the color of urine.

Gold

Gold more closely aligns with wealth and winning. We may also associate it with wedding rings and even old-fashioned false teeth. Gold is scarce. At least, that’s what we tend to believe when it comes to gold.

Gold is also something we use in electronics, due to its inherent properties. But if you want to dissolve gold (as opposed to just melting it), then you’ll need to make aqua regia. Oh, you don’t have hydrochloric acid and nitric acid just lying around? So, maybe hold off on dissolving it just yet.

So, gold can be pretty. However, adding it can feel a bit much, like gilding the lily, as opposed to illuminating a sacred manuscript. Gold has ancient associations with wealth, and was reportedly used in the Ark of the Covenant.

Add yellow to your book cover for a splash of sunshine or wealth, or scarcity, depending on the shade. And watch the darker shades. Unless, of course, for some reason you want people to think of #1 when they think of your book.

Want More of the Color Theory?

If color theory resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how colors can work with covers and more.

Color Explorations

Color Theory
Part 2
Part 3
also, Part 4

Videos: Color Theory Videos

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Color Theory, Part 2

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 8, 2024

Color Theory, Part 2

Time to look at Color Theory, Part 2 – If you want to create your own covers, or if you are a part of selecting your cover in your published work, you need to understand color theory. Knowing what works together—and what does not—will help you and your cover artist, big time!

The Basics of Color Theory, Part 2

Color theory is the associations and impressions we get when confronted with a certain color or set of colors. Color matters, even when we unconsciously do not realize that it does.

Red and its Family of Colors

Red tends to be a bold, standout color. It works with a lot of other colors. It can also help if you’ve got a mainly black, white, or gray image for your cover. Red lettering can potentially work with such a background.

However, if the value (brightness) of the red is the same as the gray behind it, you may find it feels like the color is vibrating.

Red means stop or anger or ripeness. It can also feel like excitement or danger, as it can remind us of everything from sports cars to raspberries to stop signs. The Twilight book covers in particular rely on red accents to great effect.

Red is also common in sports teams, like the Boston Red Sox and the Arizona Cardinals. But the latter, clearly, is getting its red from the name of the bird.

We also associate red with the College of Cardinals in the Catholic church.  But it evokes heat, too. Red eyes mean someone is either tired, or they have been crying. Drinking too much alcohol can eventually give you a somewhat red face. And, a classic clown will wear a big, red nose.

Pink

Pink comes across as a softer version of red. We often associate it with health and ballerinas, but also baby blankets and Barbie dolls. But its current association with femininity is fairly recent. Until about the Second World War, people considered it more of a masculine color.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has leaned rather heavily into pink being seen as feminine, and essentially appropriated the color for its own use. And, this may do a bit of a disservice to the men who get breast cancer (yet, it’s possible). The fatality rate for men is far higher than it is for women, and men may even feel a stigma that to get breast cancer is somehow unmanly.

But I digress.

Sports teams tend to not use pink as a color. But they will break out the pink for Mother’s Day, and for breast cancer awareness.

Color Theory, Part 2: Orange

Orange is more likely to be associated with hunters or the harvest or prisons. But it can also be associated with traffic safety. It can remind us of sunshine and, of course, oranges, but also the toxin, Agent Orange.

And, let’s face it, we also associate it with the forty-fifth president of the United States. But a part of that has to do with spray-on tanning gone awry.

Sports teams which wear orange include the Syracuse Orangemen and the Baltimore Orioles.

Copper

Closely related copper associates best with pennies or cookware more than anything else. However, we also associate it with bronze (about 90% of bronze consists of copper). And so we may link it to the idea of third place medals.

Sports teams rarely use copper. In fact, the only example I could find was the football team at Arizona State University!

It might be a good idea to choose a color from the red family for your cover or for its accents. And expect some strong associations but also a cover that can really stand out.

Want More of the Color Theory?

If color theory resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how color can work with covers and more.

Color Explorations

Color Theory
Part 2
Part 3
also, Part 4

Videos: Color Theory Videos

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Color Theory

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 6, 2024

A Look at Color Theory

If you are interested in creating your own covers, or if you are a part of selecting your cover in your published work, you are going to need to understand something about color theory.

The Basics

Color theory is the associations and impressions we get when confronted with a certain color or set of colors. Color matters.

A Wheel and Some Hex

Your computer generates colors based on combinations of basic colors. These are written in RGB (red-green-blue) or in hexadecimal. This means that once you know the code, you can replicate any color.

Using RGB or hex is particularly important as you replicate your colors and branding across multiple platforms. What looks like pure fire engine red on my monitor may appear more like brick or tomato to you.

But at least with a uniform color code, I can get it right if I need to copy the red from your page or cover.

Imaging programs such as GIMP and Adobe InDesign both have color picker tools which look like eye droppers. Select the tool, click on the color you want to replicate, and the tool will grab the correct hex or RGB coded color.

How Does Color Make Us Feel?

It’s just like a lot of the marketing issues surrounding books and book covers. That is, a lot of this will depend upon the buyer persona or demographic associated with the most sales of your genre.

Let’s say you are a science fiction writer. Then a lot of your readership is probably going to skew male. Although if you write LGBT science fiction, you may find more female readers in the mix.

Either way, how do they feel about colors? Furthermore, if you mainly have an American readership, their associations with colors will differ from if your ideal readers are Canadian or Swedish.

There is no doubt about it.

Color matters.

Want More of the Color Theory?

If my rambling about color theory resonates with you, then be sure to check out my other articles about how colors work with covers and more.

Color Explorations

Here are a bunch of articles about the theory of color! Because there’s even more to it than this.
Color Theory
Part 2
Part 3
also, Part 4

Videos: Color Theory Videos

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